ALBUM REVIEW: The Bestiary – Castle Rat

New York City four-piece CASTLE RAT bring the drama back to modern metal with their grand, fantasy inspired sophomore album The Bestiary. Back in the earliest days of heavy metal every other song featured witches, black magic and muscle-bound warriors, until, at some point in the late 80s, everyone decided that the genre had to take itself too seriously. Enter CASTLE RAT, the NYC quartet poised to take metal back to its melodramatic roots with their second album The Bestiary which blends clear, modern production with a retro theatrical flair.

After the suitably spooky and extravagant opening track Phoenix I, The Bestiary makes its bold introduction with Wolf I, a powerful statement of intent which mixes tropes of contemporary stoner rock and classic heavy metal. With the band’s electric frontwoman Riley Pinkerton (known as The Rat Queen) leading the charge, CASTLE RAT gallop through their over the top power metal riffs alongside powerful, soaring vocals and thunderous percussion, embracing the ridiculousness of their fantasy inspired aesthetic while injecting their throwback sound with a hit of modern stoner fuzz. Rather than simply repeat the past CASTLE RAT manage to repackage their vintage inspirations for a new audience, leaning into power metal’s nerd-friendly roots to bring the genre up to date.

Of course no heavy metal epic would be complete without a little lore behind it and CASTLE RAT come complete with a rich world of characters and creatures in tow. While their debut focused on the battle between The Rat Queen, joined by The Count on lead guitar, The Plague Doctor on bass and The All-Seeing Druid on drums, against their mortal enemy The Rat Reaperess, The Bestiary focuses more on world building, presenting a compendium on the beasts of the realm as well as the wizard who controls them with tracks like Unicorn and Serpent weaving the land’s mystery into the band’s epic trad metal sound. While far from the most extravagant or far-reaching of concept albums, The Bestiary draws the listener into an enchanting world of magic with an engaging heavy metal score.

While heavy metal often catches flack for drawing from the same few sounds over and over again, CASTLE RAT breathe new life into the genre, keeping the album’s 13 tracks fresh with elements borrowed from other genres. Tracks like Crystal Cave take a more subtle approach, building up from film score inspired symphonies to a dramatic, distorted crescendo whereas Dragon draws from bands like RED FANG or BARONESS with a stoney, progressive feel, jumping between low and slow chugs and soaring solos and vocals. Where other bands repeat their retro influences practically verbatim, CASTLE RAT manage to capture the nostalgic feel of their old-school heavy metal heroes while keeping their sound fresh and up to date.

CASTLE RAT manage the impossible by bringing fantasy heavy metal back from the dorky fringes of heavy music and back into the limelight with their melodramatic fantasy aesthetic and a flexible approach to their retro sound. On their sophomore full-length The Bestiary the New York four-piece deliver a mesmerising experience which returns to heavy metal’s fantasy inspired origins while updating them for a contemporary audience.

Rating: 7/10

The Bestiary is set for release September 19th via Blues Funeral Recordings/King Volume Records.

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